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Executive Department
State of Alabama.
Montgomery, Ala., May 18th, 1866.

Major General Wager Swayne
Ast. Com. of the Bureau
Refugees and Abandoned Lands
Montgomery.

My Dear Sir,
In view of the alarming increase of destitution and actual want of food which have been reported to this Department from the various portions of the State, and the daily cries for bread, I despatched few days since M. H. Cruikshanks, Esq, Commissioner to provide for the destitute, (then in the mountain districts,) to return to the seat of Govt, and report in detail the true condition of the country. Since his return I have conferred much with him, and also derived reliable information from various other sources.

I regret much (from correct information,) to be compelled to state that notwithstanding